Rock star leaps to his death from Lennon 'bed-in' hotel

Dutch rock star Herman Brood leaped to his death from the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel yesterday. He was 55.

It was the hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono had their famous peace 'bed-in' in the 1960s.

Brood, who had spoken about the difficulty of ending his daily drug habit, had been complaining of poor health and depression, and had told a close friend he didn’t want to fade away.

Dutch television reported that a suicide note on Brood’s body said, "I don’t feel like it any more." It also quoted the note as saying, "make it a nice party, and maybe I will see you all again".

He became a sensation with his 1978 hit single Saturday Night, which he wrote as leader of the band Wild Romance. Over 25 years he recorded nearly 20 albums, on his own or with a variety of groups.

As his success grew, Brood became known as much for his drug-based wild life style as for his art.

He quit drugs last summer after his doctor warned him his life was at risk, but his mental and physical health quickly deteriorated.